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Everything’s Going Splendidly on Splendida - Dubai-Yokohama 2018


Beamafar
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Ditto to that also....sorry......will stick to the cruise.....I wonder if it will go in 2020......as that may be the time frame now.....it does not show up yet......Bea....is the cruise sold out....the YC is for 2019...and are most of the people from Europe to a good smattering of NA?????...Ken

 

 

 

Bea ... Sorry for hijacking the thread ... :D

 

Ken ... September next year Ruby Princess Seattle to Vancouver, this September Singapore F1 Grand Prix then a 4 night cruise to Kuala Lumpur and Phucket. Then Meraviglia Xmas 2019.

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Was the cream fresh or the processed stuff out of a can?

 

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It's from a can, alright, but it's quite nice as a substitute to the real thing.

 

Ken ... I'll try and get some info later about 2020. YC on this sailing is sold out but the ship is not full. I wouldn't be so sure that YC is sold out for next year, yet. There was still a YC cabin available on the UK site a few weeks before we sailed.

 

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But they don't have it in the TSL menu, right?
It's not showing on the TSL bar menu, SC.

 

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I checked the 'Sommelier's Selection' pages but they only include the bottles for sale.

 

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Beamafar your Yacht Club experience looks great!

Ivi

Yes ... we're having a wonderful time. I hope you are, too, on Preziosa.

 

John ... Go raibh maith agat, a chara! We have just arrived in Thailand and will be tendering across to Phuket very shortly for our Safari Elephant Ride & Big Buddha Temple excursion.

 

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Enjoying your live report. This is an itinerary and world region I would love to explore one day, so don't feel bad about limiting the posts on destinations! They're all significant to all of us with severe diagnoses of wanderlust :D

 

But thanks for taking the time out of your holiday to write this, I really appreciate it!!

 

 

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Will have to look at the web cam.....thanks for the tip

 

 

 

Well it is dark....lol......day here...night there.....oh well

 

here is the weather anyways...

 

Current weather in Penang (Apr 12, 2018)

 





    • 28 °C
      82 °F



     


    • 000°, 0 m/s
      (0 Beaufort)



     

    • The report was made 14 minutes ago, at 19:00 UTC. The wind was calm. The atmospheric pressure was 1007 hPa (29.74 inHg). The relative humidity was 88,9 %. There were a few clouds at a height of 762 meters (2500 feet) and broken clouds at a height of 8230 meters (27000 feet). The overall visibility was 9,0 kilometers (5.6 miles).



     



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Bea ... I am guessing that the complimentary meal is just one per cruise and not one for all four weeks of the cruise ? Hope you are enjoying it so far.

 

 

Sorry for not answering sooner, Dave.

 

We're only getting one voucher for the entire cruise. I think the Black Card event is on today, but we won't be attending. I've already said what I had to say to both the CC (who claims to have no discretion - despite the fact that we have experienced at least 2 other CCs on other ships who did have) and the head butler! There are a lot of complaints about the issue onboard.

 

Mark ... hope to share some of our excursion experiences later today.

 

Kizzabel ... haha! Mini Tayto cheese & onion sambos made with Kerrygold on the buffet area in TSL - now that would be worth dropping in for in the afternoon. [emoji3]

 

OOT ... delighted to know you're following along. I've taken more photos on my phone so I can share more images here as a result.

 

Day 14 onboard and all is sublime! The weather is Hot! Hot! Hot!

Edited by Beamafar
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Bea ... Good to hear in a way of so many complaints re the black card meal, I somehow doubt MSC will listen especially with the attitude of the CC.

Looks like this cruise has eclipsed the Orchestra one and that has faded into the wilderness of cruises ... :cool:

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Bea ... Good to hear in a way of so many complaints re the black card meal, I somehow doubt MSC will listen especially with the attitude of the CC.

Looks like this cruise has eclipsed the Orchestra one and that has faded into the wilderness of cruises ... :cool:

Wow ... you hit the nail squarely on the head there, Dave - and then some! When I think of the reservations I had in the run-up I have to laugh at how ridiculous they seem, now!

 

Mind you, I'm not sure just how much I'd enjoy it if we were "downstairs", though. While the ship is not full, it strikes me as being really busy a lot of the time. I've also overheard enough comments that suggest that some are not enjoying the MSC "approach" to cruising!

 

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We arrived in Phuket 2 days ago. We had to be in the Conciergie at 7.45am according to a letter that had been provided with our excursion tickets for our Safari Elephant Ride & Big Buddha Temple the previous evening. However, I had only read the daily planner which indicated a time of 8am. Anyway, we were in L'Olivo at 7am with our bags packed and ready to go back in the cabin. We were the first into the restaurant and gave our orders of MSC Express for DH and French toast (cooked well) for me. Well, 40 mins later DH had to approach Vincenzo (asst m'D) to advise him that we had an excursion and had not had breakfast yet. At the same time, our plates arrived out from the kitchen. When I cut into my toast it was soggy in the centre. Vincenzo saw this and whipped the plate from in front of me. He and the waiter had a discussion where I heard Vincenzo say that if there is a problem in the kitchen he needs to be told immediately so he can sort it. I told him we didn't have time to wait for another and that I would just have a pastry - he brought me 5 on a plate!

 

 

I ate 3 and we ran back to the cabin to collect our belongings for our 5 hour trip. DH hurried to the TSL for a quick cigarette as we thought we still had 10 minutes to go. The phone rang while I was still in the cabin; it was the Concierge asking if we were coming soon, so I just grabbed everything and ran to reception where everyone was in the process of being escorted down to get the first tender. I was very flustered and annoyed at this stage and told the head butler, who was in the area, what had happened in L'Olivo and that we weren't at fault for being late. He got straight onto the phone to find out what had happened.

 

 

 

We were on one of the first tenders across to the island, but, of course, we had to wait for all the others not so lucky to be in YC to get across, so we didn't board the bus 'til shortly after 11am!! Seats at the front, again, were reserved for YC guests. We got the very front ones so were very happy and off we headed for our first stop - the elephant camp where we queued for nearly an hour to go on our elephant ride around the park. It was fun! This is the view we had on top of the elephant. At the bottom of the pic you can just discern my right foot and DH's left resting on the elephant's neck:

 

 

 

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You can see the green seat in this photo which is what we sat in for our elephant walk around the park:

 

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We then watched a show where a couple of young elephants performed some tricks, then we headed off to our next stop, which was a visit to the Chalong temple. This is a very beautiful complex. I've just checked through the gallery on my phone and discovered that I don't have any photos! So sorry!!!

 

We then boarded mini-buses which ferried us up to the top of the mountain where the newly built Big Buddha sits. It's not quite as spectacular as the one on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, but was quite impressive, nonetheless. Again, I have no photos (which I can't believe!) so you'll have to either take my word that this and the temple are well worth a visit - or try Googlel, if you're not convinced!

 

 

 

It was a very enjoyable day out which ended up being an 8 hour tour as we didn't get back to Palong 'til 7pm after the obligatory visit to a venue where we're encouraged to part with some spondulicks! (Of course, I would have a photo of that - though I wasn't tempted! Been in one of these places before and am still wearing the evidence on my right ring finger!)

 

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A couple of things to note if you visit Phuket on a cruise ship:

 

There are plenty of taxis and tuk tuks as you get off the tenders and there is a currency exchange booth just across the road.

 

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Visiting Chalong temple - bring socks because you must remove footwear before entering and the ground outside is very hot, which will burn bare feet. Also shoulders/upper arms must be covered so bring a shawl or shirt/blouse.

Edited by Beamafar
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Darcy ... just got great news from the Concierge earlier this evening. There is a transfer to the airport from Yokohama being offered and also a pre-airport excursion. I don't have the prices just yet. I'm expecting them to be pricey as other Yokohama excursions (as do those for Shanghai) seem quite a bit dearer than for other regions.

 

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Bea ... MSC are like Marmite, you either love it or hate it lol ...
Dave ... there are a couple of things that I don't blame people having an issue with. One was a situation from yesterday which I'll elaborate on when I post about yesterday's excursion (which won't be tonight as I have emails to catch up with now!)

 

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Darcy ... just got great news from the Concierge earlier this evening. There is a transfer to the airport from Yokohama being offered and also a pre-airport excursion. I don't have the prices just yet. I'm expecting them to be pricey as other Yokohama excursions (as do those for Shanghai) seem quite a bit dearer than for other regions.

 

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That’s great Bea ☺️

 

Many thanks 😊

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Dave and Bea.....my my.....it seems like MSC has not changed all that much over the years...lol....I should read some of the blogs on the Divina and the new Seaside when it gets going over in NA and see what is up with the NA cruisers......they are doing some big adverts over here with quite cheap prices.....$499/$599 for 7/8 days with free drinks....Ken

 

 

 

Dave ... there are a couple of things that I don't blame people having an issue with. One was a situation from yesterday which I'll elaborate on when I post about yesterday's excursion (which won't be tonight as I have emails to catch up with now!)

 

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Dave....silly me.....getting old.....actually Judy and I looked at that cruise.....sort of a Divina reboot!!!...lol.....you can pm me....how was it???...looks like a pretty neat ship.....Ken

 

 

 

 

Ken ... Seaside is already sailing from Miami, sailed on it at Xmas and will be there again two weeks tomorrow.
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